Air heater



Apr. 10, 1923. 1,451,471 F. POKORNY, JR M AIR HEATER Filed Aug. 14, 1920 3 RADIATOR To CARBURETTER :35 arrow- W county, and State of New 55 sirable becausemorc h g ,Arnn.

Application filed August 14, 1920. Serialfio. 203,629.

To all whom it mdy concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK PoxoaNr, Jr., a citizen of the United States, and resident of borough of Manhattan in the city,

York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means forv preheating the air supplied to carburetors for the production of fuel and air mixtures, and my improvement consists of a simple device arranged for attachment to the exhaust manifold, whereby heat from the exhaust gases, radiating from the surface of said manifold, may most eiiiciently be utilized as the pre-heating agent for air flowing to the carburetor.

Heaters, or stoves, as they are sometimes 2 called, as hitherto used, have been composed'of a section of tubing surrounding the exhaust pipe, in spaced relation therewith, to thus provide a confined passage for air flowin to the carburetor, but heating means of t is character have not been found eihcacious, for the reason that'the' heating surface by which the passing air is influenced is of insufiicient area.

erefore l have devised a special form of eater which comprises a member adapted to have spaced engagement with the exhaust manifold of an engine to afford a clear passage between said member and the surf-ace of the exhaust manifold, and having delivery connection with the carburetor. This heater member, which I shall call an envelope, isadapted to hold in place between it and the surface of the'exhaust manifold a multiple-channel air passage of material as which is a good conductor of heat and which divides up the flow of air into a series of relatively thin streams that are each subjected to heat radiation from the divisional walls of said multiple-channel, so that the at full volume of air passing between the envelope and manifold becomes more highly heat'edthan would be otherwise possible.

Of course it will be appreciated that with the motor turning over slowly so that the air travelling to the carburetor has a moderate flow rate, naturally the streams of air will be more highly heatedthan when the motor is running at a higher speed and the flow of air is more ra id, but this is dely heated air is reuired for a slow running motor than for t e same motor when running faster.

The multiple-channel passage device -is readily-removable, from the envelope, because in hot weather its service is not desirable, and an orifice 'in the envelope,'pr0- vided with a shutter, permits of temperature regulation suited to seasonal conditions.

Other features and advantages of, my invention will hereinafter appear.

. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an exhaust manifold forming part of an internal combustion engine, and having my air pre-heatlng means attached thereto.-

F 1g. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and v v Fig. 3 is a similar view, omitting the corrugated interior member.

In said views let 1 indicate an exhaust manifold as forming part of an internal combustion engine, whose other portions are not herein shown. Since it is my purpose to utilize heat radiating from the surface of the manifold whereby to raise the tempera: ture of air passing to the carburetor, Iha've devised an elbow member having the tubular portion 2 which is intended to connect with a carburetor, to supply air thereto, said portion 2 being an angular extension of a acket like portion that comprises a vertically curved wall 3. partially surrounding the exhaust manifold and of greater extent than the vertical diameter of the manifold pipe-said wall3 having upper and lower, return bends, 4, 5, which are provided, respectively, with opposed, parallel edges 6, 7, lying in a vertical plane rearwardly of wall 3, the said edges 6, 7', being spaced apart suiliciently to permit them to lie, respectively upon or near the upper and lower sur-f faces of the manifold, to thus provide a clearance 8 between wall 3 and the manifold. The entrance 9 to said clearance is directed, in motor vehicle practice, towards the rear surface of the usual radiator, that it may receive currents of air, which has been heated by passing over the radiator.

The air thus received within the envelope formed by the wall 3 and the manifold is raised in temperature while passing therethrough. But in cold weather I have found the degree of pre-heat thus provided, insufficient for eflicient carburation purposes. Therefore I introduce withimthe envelope a til convoluted or corrugated sheet 10 of metallic material which is a good conductor of heat, whose corrugations, or return bends provide a series of parallel passages 11 within the'envelope, that cause the flow of air to the envelope, and the folds of said sheet being tensionally contracted, it fits snugly between the return bends 4, 5 of said envelope. The depth of thecorrugations is of such extent that they fill out the space between the envelope and the manifold surface, by contact with which latter they become very highly heated, due to the conductive nature of the material comprising sheet 10. I

A lug 12, projecting inwardly from the wall 3, at the entrance to the envelope servesas a stop to en age with the outer surface of the manifol and, thus to maintain the desired space between the wall or envelope 3 and the exhaust manifold. The means shown herein for fastening theiipreheating device to the manifold consists of a strap 13 placed around both the envelope and the manifold, with the ends of said strap flanged and united by a bolt 14.

An aperture 15 is provided in the wall 3 which may be closed partiall or wholly by a shutter 16, slidable in gui cs 17 at opposite edges of said aperture.

aren Therefore, according to'the atmospheric temperature conditions which prevail, so may the device be employed either with or without the corrugated sheet 10, and with the aperture 15 closed, partly open, or fully open.

Variations may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of my invention and parts thereof used without others.

I claim:

Preheating means for the air supply to carburetors of internal combustion engines comprising, in combination, an elbow device having a transversely curved portion with oppositely inturned edges and an intermediate, inturned spacing lug adapted to set against the exhaust manifold of an engine to provide an air passage between said portion and manifold, an angularly disposed tubular portion to connect with the carburetor, the forward end of the curved portion being open to admit air for passage through the tubular portion, a corrugated. sheet of heat conductive material fittin between the curved portion and the mamfold to provide a series of parallel channels for the sub-division of the flowing air into separate streams, and a controllable opening in the curved portion to vary the temperature therein.

Signed at borough of Manhattan in the city, county, and State of New York this th day of August A. D. 1920.

FRANK POKORNY, J12. 

